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Fire Giant
|rarity = Uncommon |casting_cost = |upkeep_cost = per turn |research_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |ranged = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Ranged Attack x2 +10% To Hit Mountaineer Wall Crusher Fire Immunity }} The Fire Giant is a type of Fantastic Unit featured in Master of Magic. Fire Giants belong to the , and may be summoned using a Summoning Spell of the same name. Despite being physically weakest among Giants, the Fire Giant still packs both a respectable and , and is quite tough for an Uncommon Creature. It can Crush through City Walls, quickly lead other troops through Mountains, and is completely immune to Fire Damage. The Fantastic Unit Physical Description The Fire Giant is a large creature, significantly taller than a man, and wearing a distinctive golden plate armor. A large, golden, "Greek-style" helmet covers the giant's face, but his strong arms and legs, unprotected by the armor, give away this creature's humanoid origins. The Fire Giant is armed with a large shield and a dangerous-looking sword fit for his size. The Fire Giant is a . Attack Properties The Fire Giant possesses reasonable Melee Attack properties, as well as an admirable boulder-lobbing Ranged Attack. These attack properties put it about on par with a mid-tier Normal Unit, though few normal units can attack both in Melee and Ranged with the same strength. The Fire Giant's Melee Attack has a strength of . Thanks to an inherent bonus, the average damage caused by this attack is per attack. The Fire Giant's Ranged Attack has the same strength, at . This boulder attack cannot be deflected by such spells that protect enemy units against missiles. The Fire Giant's ranged attack also enjoys the unit's bonus, delivering on average. The Fire Giant may use this attack only twice per battle before having to switch to Melee Attacks. Note that both attacks enjoy the benefits of the Wall Crusher ability. The Fire Giant can target individual City Wall sections, and has a certain chance to destroy them. If it uses a Ranged Attack for this, its chance of destroying the wall section is 25%. If it uses a Melee Attack, the chance is 50%. In both cases, if an enemy unit is standing adjacent to and inside the targeted wall section, the Fire Giant's attack targets both the wall and the enemy unit. Any wall section destroyed by this attack will remain destroyed for the rest of the battle - but will be entirely fixed when the next battle begins. Defensive Properties Despite being clad in plate armor, the Fire Giant only has a rather average Defense score of . It will block about from any direct attack, on average. Damage that does get through will still have to chip away at the Giant's respectable before he can be brought down. The Fire Giant's Resistance score is , which makes him reasonably-well protected against spells and combat maledictions, though he is still quite vulnerable to such effects when they incur a Resistance penalty. On the other hand, the Fire Giant possesses the Fire Immunity ability. This protects the Giant from any attacks that deliver Fire Damage. This can be useful when fighting other creatures or -wielding wizards. Other Properties As with other Giants, the Fire Giant's long stride carries it at across both the overland map and the battlefield. This allows the Fire Giant to charge at enemy units during battle, or keep its distance while flinging his Ranged Attacks at them. On the overland map, the Fire Giant also employs his Mountaineer ability to allow moving into Hill, Mountain and Volcano tiles at the cost of only 1 Movement Point. In fact, any units stacked with the Fire Giant will also enjoy this rapid movement, allowing the Fire Giant to lead other troops through this normally-difficult terrain. On the other hand, the Fire Giant and its stack must pay 3 Movement Points when entering any Grassland tile. Basic Tactics Fire Giants will usually start a battle by lobbing boulders at their enemies, and then quickly switch to a head-on charge. Although not as strong as other Giants, the Fire Giant can dish out a good deal of damage in both Ranged and Melee combat, and can take a respectable amount of damage himself. Fire Giants are quite useful for siege battles, as they can knock down Wall Sections with ease. Furthermore, a Wall of Fire, usually a serious hazard in town combat, poses no threat to the Fire Giant thanks to his Fire Immunity. Fire Giants are also excellent pathfinders when it comes to crossing Mountains. If you want to explore quickly in mountainous terrain, or mount a swift assault through this type of area, a single Fire Giant can lead an entire army through it in no time. Overall, for all the reasons outlined above, Fire Giants seem to be an excellent weapon to use against other -wielding wizards, especially thanks to their immunity to Fire Damage. They can also be useful in large groups comprised of nothing but Fire Giants, though they don't stand up too well to the higher-level units of any Realm. Enemy Fire Giants Fire Giants sometimes appear as neutral monsters in mid-level encounters, though they are rarer than most other creatures in these situations. In such cases they are commonly supported by smaller creatures, such as Hell Hounds. If not alone, Fire Giants will usually appear in groups of two or three at most. Though they are quite fierce in combat, Fire Giants should not pose any real problem to a sufficiently-large army. They may cause some with their initial Ranged Attacks, but in Melee combat they are just big mid-level creatures. Try to block them from reaching your soft Ranged Attack units, and you should do fine. However, Fire Giants may pose a problem for wizards who use magic, thanks to their Fire Immunity. Try to engage them with units that don't deal Fire Damage, and stick to Unit Curses or direct-damage spells that deal normal damage (such as Lightning Bolt). If a Fire Giant shows up for a siege battle, take it out first before it starts destroying your City Walls. Ability Overview Ranged Attack x2 * This unit may use a instead of a Melee Attack 2 times in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks. +10% To Hit * This unit has an extra to hit its target with every attack. This improves its statistical chance to inflict more with each attack it makes. Mountaineer * This unit may move through any Hills, Mountain or Volcano tile at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * When this unit is stacked with other units, the entire stack may move through these tiles at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * On the other hand, traveling into Grassland tiles costs this unit and its stack exactly 3 Movement Points. Wall Crusher * This unit can make Melee Attacks and/or Ranged Attacks (as available) against City Walls. Each attack has a certain chance to destroy the targeted wall section for the remainder of the battle. * A Ranged Attack has a 25% chance of destroying the targeted wall section. A Melee Attack has a 50% chance of destroying the targeted wall section. * If an enemy unit is standing behind the wall when it is attacked, the Wall Crusher unit attacks that unit as well. Defense bonuses to the target unit depend on whether or not the wall is destroyed during this attack. * This ability can only destroy City Walls. Other, magical wall types are not affected. Fire Immunity * This unit shrugs off any attack that delivers Fire Damage, including Fire Breath attacks, direct-damage spells like Fireball, or even the damage-dealing effect of Wall of Fire. These attacks do no damage to the unit. The Summoning Spell Usage Fire Giant may only be cast on the overland map, for the base Casting Cost of . Upon casting, the new Fire Giant unit will appear in the town currently containing the caster's Summoning Circle. The new unit is created with full Movement Points, and may move and/or attack immediately as necessary. To keep the Fire Giant in play, it is necessary to pay an Upkeep Cost of per turn. This is drawn automatically from the caster's Mana pool each turn. Failure to pay the required costs due to lack of in the pool will lead to the Fire Giant being immediately destroyed, along with any Unit Enchantments currently affecting it. If the unit is destroyed in combat, then it is gone from the world entirely, and there is no further need to pay its Upkeep Costs. You can also dismiss the Fire Giant voluntarily. To do this, right-click the unit's icon and then press the red "Dismiss" button on the bottom right corner of the unit's details panel. A dismissed unit is gone forever, but of course you can always cast the Fire Giant spell again to get a fresh new one. The primary reason to dismiss a Fantastic Creature would be to remove its Upkeep Cost (conserving as a result). Acquisition As an Uncommon spell, Fire Giant may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is almost never guaranteed. Customized Wizards possessing Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn. Wizards who possess at least Spellbooks, or Wizards with Spellbooks who did not select Fire Giant as a guaranteed spell, will be able to Research this spell at some point during their campaign. Wizards with fewer than Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. Fire Giant has a base Research Cost of . With at least Spellbook, the Fire Giant spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell. Category:Units Category:Fantastic Creatures Category:Chaos